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Overview
Nmap examines reachability, exposed ports, and clues about services or operating systems on networks you administer. It spans interactive diagnosis and repeatable asset checks using machine-readable output such as XML.
Features and best fit
Based on official documentation; not hands-on tested · Content checked:
Key features
Identify reachable hosts and exposed ports
Host discovery and port scanning show which addresses respond and which TCP or UDP ports appear open, closed, or filtered. Operators can choose methods such as a connect scan according to the target and available privileges.
Sources: [2]
Best fit
Check assets and diagnose defensive configuration
It fits operators inventorying the exposed surface of managed networks and developers or security teams confirming that unwanted ports closed after a change. localhost provides a controlled first target for learning options and output.
Sources: [2]
Before adoption
Obtain authorization and review NPSL terms
Run scans only against systems for which the owner or administrator has granted permission, and account for load and monitoring alerts. GitHub reports NOASSERTION; the distribution uses the GPLv2-based Nmap Public Source License with additional terms. Proprietary embedding and redistribution are restricted, and bundled Npcap on Windows has separate terms.
Official sources
- [1]Nmap 7.991 README(2026-10-04)
- [2]Nmap Reference Guide(2026-10-04)
- [3]Nmap 7.991 LICENSE (NPSL)(2026-10-04)
- [4]Nmap 7.991 changelog(2026-10-04)
Supplemental curator note
Nmap is a durable choice for comparing an asset inventory with the services actually exposed on an approved network. Define authorization and target scope before choosing scan options, and review NPSL and Npcap terms separately before embedding or redistributing it.
Try it in 3 steps
- 1
Check the installed Nmap command
Install Nmap from an official package or your operating system package manager, then print its path and version.
command -v nmap && nmap --version - 2
Inspect one localhost port
Use an unprivileged TCP connect scan against only TCP port 9 on your own machine. -Pn skips discovery and no external address is contacted.
nmap -sT -Pn -p 9 --reason 127.0.0.1 - 3
Save the same result as XML
Write the same one-port localhost result to localhost-scan.xml and display only address and port-state lines.
nmap -sT -Pn -p 9 -oX localhost-scan.xml 127.0.0.1 && grep -E "<address |<port |<state " localhost-scan.xml
Growth
Growth trends · Last 30 days
13,710 Stars
Trend data is still being collected.
Development activity
Last 90 days · weekly
- Commits (last 30 days)
- 71
- Open PRs
- 337
Development activity is still being collected.
Built with
Categories and tags
Categories
GitHub data
GitHub dataView detailed GitHub data
GitHub Topics
- c-plus-plus
- lua
- security
- port-scanner
- machine-learning
- linux
- windows
- osx
- network-discovery
- service-discovery
- asynchronous
- socket
- Stars
- 13,710
- Forks
- 2,910
- Watchers
- 460
- Open issues
- 360
- Contributors
- 4
- Owner type
- Organization
- Primary language
- C
- License
- Not determined
- Repository last updated
- Oct 3, 2026
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